Stress, watery eyes, and hard decisions

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This does relate to the Creeping Gooey Hay Eye thread, ultimately.

Enderman, my prize winning NZR young buck, has had weepy eyes the last month or so. I thought it was hay related, since it cleared up when I changed hay. Right after, his cagemate, Trooper got gooey eye, which appeared with the new hay. I wasn't certain if it was related or not.

Yesterday I discovered that there were two cases of nest box eye in my kits, which I am pretty sure was my fault since I bypassed a vinegar wash doing just the soap, water, and sunshine, since Heaven was going to use the same box again. I won't do that again. However, what worried me was those were Enderman's kits, the buck with the maybe eye issue.

Last night my dog was accidently locked in the rabbitry. He howled and screamed so loud and hard for abt 15 minutes that when my daughter discovered him, she said all the rabbits were in a terror. My daughter heard our Cocker through a garage, 25ft space, and the wall of the house--that's how loud he was.

This morning I come out to find Enderman's eyes soaked with drainage and I made the decision to cull him. I am sad but mostly regretful since I wanted a few more litters from my blue ribbon rabbit. While processing Ender, to my horror, I heard Heaven sneeze about a dozen times in a row. She was bred to Ender and her current kits are his offspring. She's pregnant with Clue's but I am praying that she hasn't caught anything. Trooper's eyes are clearing up, but I am slightly scared.
 
For some reason, I keep thinking airborne mold might be your problem, or a contributing factor. You might stop feeding hay altogether for a while and see if that helps?

You know, I don't remember the last time I even washed my nestboxes...and I don't remember the last time I had nestbox eye either. :?
 
I did use some of the hay in the new nestbox, that may explain the NBE, if it's mold. Ugh, I hope and I hope not that it would be mold. The hay doesn't smell moldy nor does it look it. Tomorrow is garbage day, maybe I'll just throw it out and start with a new bale. Maybe I culled in vain, but I didn't want to take a chance.

If it were airborne mold, wouldn't all the rabbits be showing an effect? Wheatley, who was right next to Ender, never became weepy or goopy, whereas the MR buck on Ender's left has. They all get the same hay. :/
 
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